Business

EEOC: Monte Vista potato warehouse workers were sexually harassed

FILE-- A worker sorting potatoes as they roll down to fill 10-pound bags for small markets at a potato warehouse in Hampton Township. (Yfat Yossifor, The Bay City Times, AP file photo)

The U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission has sued MountainKing Potatoes alleging that managers at the company's potato warehouse in Monte Vista repeatedly subjected female farm workers to sexual touching, comments, gestures and propositions and then fired the women or punished them in other ways if they complained.

The EEOC lawsuit seeks monetary damages, including back pay, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.

Calls to MountainKing Potatoes in Monte Vista, which is operated by Smokin' Spuds Inc. and Farming Technology Inc., and the company's Houston-based lawyer Mark Steakley were not returned.

The alleged retaliation included assigning the women who complained to the least desirable assignments and work stations, said the EEOC.

The sexual harassment and retaliation created a hostile work environment, said the federal agency.

In one case, the lawsuit alleged, one of the victims felt she had to arrive slightly late because one of the harassers was always present at the time clock to abuse her. She was disciplined for this despite her explanation that she had only been trying to avoid sexual harassment. The EEOC claimed that no action was ever taken to stop or prevent the abuse.

Mary Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix office, said farm workers in remote and underserved areas, or isolated in a warehouse, are particularly vulnerable to workplace sexual harassment.

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It is essential that employers immediately stop harassment in these isolated areas, said O'Neill.

EEOC Denver Field Office director Nancy Sienko said in a statement that agricultural workers are urged to step forward when they believe they are experiencing discrimination — even if they do not speak English.

"We have Spanish-speaking investigators, and we can accept charges by mail," Sienko said.

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